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New Education Law Shifts Power Back Toward States

President Obama recently signed new education legislation into law that could change controversial standardized testing and teacher evaluations in New York State.

Sherry Johnson is the Executive Director of Monroe County School Boards Association. She says, for all of the faults of the No Child Left Behind Act, she thinks it served as an important wake up call.

"There are groups of students in areas that aren't getting a quality education. They're lacking their ability to succeed based on what schools districts are providing for them."

The federal government saw these groups getting left behind (kids who come from poverty, kids with disabilities, kids who are not native english speakers, etc.) and the legislation that followed started a chain reaction that some attribute to the rise in standardized testing and teacher evaluations.

The idea behind the Every Student Succeeds Act is to keep testing kids, but give states more power over what kinds of tests, and what to do with the results. Hopefully, schools won't have to worry about immediately losing money over bad test scores, so they won't be motivated to teach as much to the test.

At least, that's what Johnson hopes will come of it. There's still a lot that needs clarifying, because the language can be vague.

"So, what are 'high quality standards?' Because now, states don't have to align to common core standards but they have to be 'high quality standards.' Well, what's the definition? That's going to have to be determined."

But Johnson says she's confident that teachers will be involved in the process, and she feels they have the support of the State Education Commissioner and the Governor's administration.

Federal education regulations will be in place until at least the 2016-2017 school year, so schools have time to prepare for the new regulations.

Veronica Volk is a senior editor and producer for WXXI News.